CASINOS – Thirty-eight states have casinos and the states surrounding Ohio all have them. We are presently seeing ads promoting a casino for Ohio as though the state was missing something of value and that we are behind the times. The ad tells us that money is leaving Ohio at sixty-five miles an hour. When we were in Oregon for John’s funeral we parked a car in a casino parking area on the way to the coast as we all got into another car to save gas. It was a huge place with a very large parking lot just about packed to capacity on a Sunday afternoon. When we returned from the ocean that evening the casino was brightly lit and the parking lot was still full. People do go to these places in large numbers and most of them lose money doing so. Gambling seldom pays off and those who do win usually turn around and lose it again hoping to win more. Gambling is a sinful way of wasting money. It involves greed, the desire to have or to gain what someone else has. It may also be called covetousness, something the Bible clearly condemns. If people have such access funds to spend (waste) there are many needy projects and hurting people who need help. Further, where there is gambling there is usually criminal corruption. So often they make promises to provide better education or some other social or community benefit, with little actually being so applied while pockets are lined. All to often people who cannot actually afford to lose their money do. Many are the stories of peoples lives ruined by gambling. No, I really don’t think Ohio needs a casino to keep up with the bad standards of surrounding states.
FAMILY UPDATE – My daughter-in-law in Oregon is finally back to work. - Ben’s new heart is doing fine but his kidney’s are giving him some problems. It is difficult getting his rejection meds properly adjusted. – Little Logan is adjusting well to his chemo treatments and will have a new MRI of his brain tumor in a week or so. Your continued prayers for this family are still appreciated. / Betty will get a second treatment of the new chemo on the 15th. I am still wearing a heart monitor and will for 30 days. The irregularity causes me tiredness. A shot of cortisone has eased the pain and swelling some in my knee. So much for the medical reports, thanking you for your prayers.
HATE SPEECH ?? – Friends, going back many years, sent me a commentary on “Faith and Politics” by Bill Tammeus in Kansas. Part of the heading was “Preaching is both a burden and a marvelous opportunity.” Tammeus’s comments related to Sen. Barack Obama and his pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. sermons. He also recalled what he referred to as “anti-Catholic hatred” when he was a boy. He also stated: “Throughout Christian history preachers have been free to preach the gospel as they understood it. The task for people hearing sermons is to discern prophetic preaching from hate speech.” I would agree with his assertion that Dr. Wright’s sermons “were not just words about injustice but “expressed a profound distorted view of this country.” Preachers do get themselves into predicaments through their preaching by bad choices of words and sometimes through listeners who misunderstanding their purposes. Having said all this, the word that stood out to me was “hatred.” Wise pastors will avoid giving any impression of “hatred” in their attitudes and expressions but there is more involved here. We have come to a day when Canada has passed laws against “hate speech” that has hampered the ability of pastors and others to make any comparisons between the truths of the Gospel and the different existing religions. Similar laws are being attempted in this country where a pastor could be imprisoned for comparative expressions in their preaching and teaching. I have read of people moving to this country because they could no longer write about and teach their religious differences in Canada. The day may well arrive here as well. Still, I know of no better way of teaching doctrinal truths than by comparing Biblical truth with false doctrines. These new laws will not allow such teaching and that is an attack on our religious freedoms. It is not hate speech to make such distinctions. If I preach and teach against false teachings that go against the Scriptures to protect my congregation, that is not “hate speech,” it is a matter of love to protect people from the false and teachings that lead people into an eternal damnation. We need to be on our guard to not allow such laws to take effect in this country.
PRESIDENTIAL VISIT – David Little, President of Baptist Church Planters graciously stopped in to see us this week on his way through the Columbus area from another stop. It was a delight to see him and to talk about things in common relating to the mission. He brought a potted plant for Betty, something she always enjoys. We rejoiced in the mission’s growth and development in various ethnic ministries. The growing Hispanic ministries are a great delight of God’s blessing. I also mentioned my concern over the declining outreach to African Americans. At one time our mission had a great church planting outreach to African Americans. Several things are causing this, age and retirement without others stepping up to take their places. Another is that a number of our black missionaries have remained with their churches after starting them rather than going on to repeat the process. We really need to be praying for and seeking conservative, fundamental black men to once again recognize the great need in this nation for church planters. One school in the Kansas City area is no longer producing church planters as it once did. There is another area of decline that concerns me. We had a growing ministry to the deaf and that is in decline. Oh, that God would raise up new people to minister in these two areas as they once did for an increase of saved souls and new outreach. PLEASE PRAY WITH US TO THIS END!
MORE ABOUT BLACK MINISTRY – There was a time at Fellowship Baptist Church when a believing African American lady visited our church. I called in the home to encourage her husband to attend with her. He eventually accepted the Lord and I had the privilege of baptizing him. It was my hope and prayer that they might become the nucleus to bring in others. They were not with us long as they came to the conclusion that they wanted their son to grow up in the black culture and moved on. That was such a point of discouragement to me. I might add, that under our present pastors leadership, there have been several other ethnic groups that have become members of our church for which I praise the Lord. It should be our prayer that their numbers increase as we see the multiplicity of different cultures in our area. Let’s not be afraid to make friends with many around us of different cultures in an effort to point them to Christ and our churches.
JEWISH CONCERNS – In the early church Jews and Gentiles alike attended the same churches. For many years now mission agencies have sent out missionaries to reach Jews for Christ, ministering within the culture, but not bringing the two together. I don’t understand why that has been the case. Both are equal in Christ when redeemed.
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